Vision of the Seas Review

3.5 / 5.0
1,212 reviews

A little disappointed with RCL.

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Vision of the Seas
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oshunchild
2-5 Cruises • Age 40s

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Sail Date: Jun 2014
Traveled with children

I went into this cruise not expecting much due to my last cruise on RCI and was cautious about sailing on the same class ship. But, wanted to give them another chance and I booked this cruise to celebrate my kid's graduation from HS and had never traveled this itinerary. The shuttle ride over to the port was great and less than 5 minutes from the offsite parking lot with a private company. It was initially stressful embarking due to the rude and disorganized staff at Port Everglades. Outside, the porters seemed disgruntled that I gave him $1 for my one bag that he picked up to put on the cart 2 feet away, after I rolled it towards him from the shuttle. I also noticed that Port Everglades cruise terminal is not as clean as Port Canaveral and at PC, staff are a lot more friendlier to guest. We entered the check-in line according to status and a RCI staffer completely ignored us for a long time considering we were the only two in this line. He purposely turned his back to us more than once and allowed several families to go to all the open windows. I proceeded to ask the rude RCI port staff member, as to why our Gold line was not moving and he replied that the "Platinum status and above are very special people and they needed to go first." He also told me " you needed to wait for a window to open and just go to one of them whenever"! When I finally got to the counter, the RCI staffer behaved detached and curt throughout the entire transaction, while checking in.

After the initial negative impression, getting on board was a breeze. We walked directly to the WJ for lunch and it was very crowded. Staff was very nice and cleared tables for guest quickly. There was no honey stung chicken and pretty much majority picnic styled food (hot dog, hamburgers and cold cuts). The choices were slim in my opinion with a couple other hot choices so we just ate a nice salad and tons of fruit salad and I was okay with that until dinner in the evening. No announcements were made to notify guest that cabins were open and we just decided to go there hoping that it would be open at 1 PM. Usually , C&A welcome sheets are in the cabins before guest arrive and ours was not. I was told by guest relations to register my teen at the teen club and we walked over there after getting lost for 45 minutes and no one was there to check kids in. She also told me that we could only get the coupons from the teen center for my kid. We had to repeatedly ask for the coupons at guest services and finally went to the C&A desk and we eventually got them after requesting them 3 different times. We were not used to the coupons being loaded on the Sea Pass card, because it was 6 months since we last sailed and this process was not in effect then. We eventually got the welcome sheets on the third day from our cabin steward in our room, after another visit to C&A desk. The excuse from the cabin steward was that she just got on the ship from vacation and was trying to catch up. We had to go to guest services at the beginning and had to twice ask if they can place the beds apart that we had requested in our reservations and were told it will happen later in the night after cabin inspections ( I was told this is a new procedure). Later, I had to go look for my luggage because it was placed by another cabin # down the other hall and luckily we went a different way from our cabin or who knows where it would have ended up. After all of this the muster drill began at 5 PM and the female muster drill leader (US) in section 02 with deck 4 staterooms was rude and abrasive to all guest during check-in for no reason. She behaved as if this duty she had, was an annoyance to her. Eventually we found out they were the same female staff that was apart of the aerialist show and dancers from Scotland and the US. They also sat through every overcrowded show with patrons in the front rows instead of allowing guest to sit down who paid for the cruise.

I did not know that we had to put the card in the door to get our cabin cleaned or made up twice a day because,we never had to do this on other cruises that we had been on. But,it is common for RCI to change policy, procedures, bonus's and rewards frequently. Our cabin was a bit small but, it served it's purpose for sleeping and the beds were rock hard. I was told that they do not supply the cushion (egg crates)for the beds anymore to ease the stiffness of the bed. We were able to get some ice each day and I retrieved a wine glass for the wine that I brought on board from the R bar on the same deck. The cabin steward did supply the opener when I requested one. The only cabins that has mini-fridges are deck 7 and above, so you can not get one if you are on the lower decks. Our cabin was a large ocean view #4006 and right under the theater and we never heard a sound even when they practiced. However, this was main hallway for crew and sometimes they would come down the hall extremely fast with luggage carts and bringing equipment all day. As far as the cleanliness,I am glad I brought Lysol wipes and spray because the surfaces had hair and grime on them including the drawers. I know that they only have a limited amount of time to clean each cabin and I did not mind wipe down everything. In my cabin the toilet broke twice and had to be repaired. When we returned home and called RCL through GR they explained that "it happens and at least you were able to use the toilet majority of the time"! After speaking to another guest in the elevator who had a cabin on the same side (forward) and different deck (8th) of the ship theirs broke also more than once.

Cabin Review

The only cabins that has mini-fridges are deck 7 and above, so you can not get one if you are on the lower decks. Our cabin was a large ocean view #4006 and right under the theater and we never heard a sound even when they practiced. However, this was main a hallway for crew and sometimes they would come down the hall extremely fast with carts and bringing equipment through all day. It has a little more room than the average cabin, tiny bathroom and a window. There is a large space between the beds and the window and it can be used for storage.

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